Stay Sexy and Listen to Podcasts

Updated: Apr 25

While making that daily trek downtown to work, more people have been tuning in to podcasts to keep them company. With over 700,000 to choose from at any time, people can listen to topics ranging from celebrities discussing their cats, car rides with comedians, and cocktail recipes to drink while learning the nitty gritty of different diseases. However, more and more listeners are tuning in to hear the different styles of true crime. Whether it’s comedic, stories told around the campfire, or investigative journalism, there is a podcast that caters to everyone’s true crime interests.

True crime stations don’t just give you all the details you may or may not want to hear in order to stay sexy and not get murdered, as podcasters Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff remind listeners on their show, “My Favorite Murder.” They are also great tools for public relations. Imbedded within their stories, hosts discuss different organizations and cases in need of publicity and funding. Listeners then start using what resources they have to outsource the information to the mass public. The pressure to further investigate, funds to provide testing, and new tips being brought to departments is helping to close cold cases.

According to a 2019 study by Edison Research, podcast listeners are more active on social media - 94% compared to the entire population with just 81%. With the increase in their fan base, the hosts of “My Favorite Murder” have set a way for their murderinos to discuss and donate money to the #EndTheBacklog Campaign, a campaign to pay for the testing of over 100,000 untested rape kits. Their fan base has created a page of their own, MurderinoMakers, and have donated just over $16,000 in the past two years to charities such as National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and National Domestic Violence Hotline. Additionally, Crime Junkie advertises for the Crime Stoppers of Indiana, and they encourage listeners to donate time or money to the Crime Stoppers in their area.

With the increase in social media use, people are discussing facts from different cold cases. This has led to pertinent information coming to the surface years after the cases have gone cold. “Teacher’s Pet,” an Australian true crime podcast, led to the arrest of former rugby star, Chris Dawson, for the murder of his wife believed to be missing back in 1982. Season One of “Up and Vanished” led to an anonymous tip which led police to Ryan Duke in February of 2015 for the murder of Tara Grinstead 10 years earlier. Season 1 of “Serial” provided the donations for the reopening of the case for Adnan Syed, arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. After maintaining his innocence, “Serial” investigated and found the necessary evidence to reopen his case to try and free Syed.

With so many to choose from, the amount of work podcast hosts and their listeners put in has helped solve many cases that were otherwise forgotten by the mass public. On that drive home after a long day, I suggest putting on the latest episode of “My Favorite Murder.” It will make that drive home a lot more interesting, and maybe you’ll hear something that will help solve a case that has been dormant for years. While they are affecting change from their couch, you can help them and others from the killer downtown traffic.